Verified Company
Systemic Quality Issues Across Entire Development - Buyer Beware
I purchased this home on the secondary market and have been deeply disappointed by the widespread structural and quality issues affecting not only my property but the entire neighborhood. These problems are well-documented in public forums and community discussions, indicating this is not an isolated incident but a pattern of substandard construction.
Key Concerns:
Structural Deficiencies: The homes fail to meet basic quality expectations due to fundamental structural issues that should never have passed inspection
Neighborhood-Wide Problems: Multiple homeowners across the development are experiencing similar defects, demonstrating systemic construction failures rather than isolated incidents
Dismissive Customer Service: When raising legitimate concerns, the company's response focuses on property value appreciation rather than addressing the actual quality issues. Telling customers they should be satisfied because "your home value went up" completely misses the point—we paid premium prices and deserve homes built to acceptable standards.
The Bottom Line:
It's mind-blowing that a builder can deliver homes with such significant quality issues at premium pricing. Deflecting valid complaints by pointing to market appreciation shows a profit-maximization approach at the expense of construction quality and customer satisfaction.
For prospective buyers: thoroughly research the builder's track record, inspect carefully, and review community forums documenting experiences across the entire development before making a purchase decision.
Reply from Schottenstein Homes
2026.01.04
It appears you are the third owner of a home we built in 2021.
We deliver quality homes and Homeowner Care within the communities and price ranges that we build. We have no control over how our homes are cared for after closing, by multiple homeowners. The value we provided upon closing in 2021 to our original Homeowner increased nearly 40% since your purchase.
We deliver quality homes and Homeowner Care within the communities and price ranges that we build. We have no control over how our homes are cared for after closing, by multiple homeowners. The value we provided upon closing in 2021 to our original Homeowner increased nearly 40% since your purchase.
Schottenstein is AMAZING! They helped build the home of our dreams. High quality in every material. They went above and beyond to make sure we were aware of the building process. We are so thankful we picked them. Caryn was so helpful through the whole process. And Brandon makes sure you are informed of everything along the way.
Reply from Schottenstein Homes
2026.01.04
YOU are AMAZING :)
We had a great experience building our home with Schottenstein. From our very first meeting with Shawn, the team was professional, transparent, and attentive to every detail. They guided us through the entire process — from design to completion — and made sure we felt supported every step of the way.
Mike, Nick, and Jake were wonderful to work with during the building process. They answered all of our questions and kept us updated. We felt respected and cared for during each of the inspections. We love our home!!
Reply from Schottenstein Homes
2026.01.04
We appreciate you!!
This is an update to my previous review. After submitting the initial review, we heard back from Schottenstein Homes and our issues have been addressed, so I'm updating the rating from 1 to 3 stars.
We built a home in Renner Park 14 months ago. It's a nice home in a nice neighborhood. However, we have had several major issues with our home during this time. While we do like the home, we found the issues extremely frustrating and communication with Schottenstein Homes and their vendors has been challenging at times. We had to deal with no heat multiple times in the fall, no hot water (for 5 days!) in the winter, and a partially flooded basement this summer after our sump pump died.
With a newly built home, we expect it to be mostly trouble-free. We also had issues during the build process, which we feel could have been handled better. Having previously built a home with a different builder that we had a great experience with, we already had experience with the home building process, as well as expectations post-build.
As of today, all of our issues and concerns have been addressed. Schottenstein reimbursed us for the sump pump, which we appreciate. They also provided direct phone numbers that we can reach out to, should issues occur again in the future.
Reply from Schottenstein Homes
2026.01.04
We greatly appreciate you providing us the opportunity, giving us the opportunity to address your issues. Thank you!
If you are building a house with this company that is in an HOA, I would definitely think again. Our community at Renner Park is not fully completed so Schottenstein Homes developer board has sole decision in HOA matters until 100% of the community is filled and the board is turned over to the community. We have had tremendous trouble with getting a fence approved. We just want our puppy to be safe outside and have a place to run around. If you plan on any home improvements quickly after moving in, I would likely go with another company or hope your community won’t have an HOA being governed by Schottenstein as the developer/board.
The most important thing to take away from this review is to hire an inspector for every step of the building process if you've already had the misfortune of signing with Schottenstein. If you're thinking about building with them, don't. The entire building process was a nightmare, they blamed covid, which apparently made them incapable of answering emails or questions. Once we were in our house, it was problem after problem. We have built a home before, so we knew to expect some issues. Our pipes were installed incorrectly and our finished basement flooded with sewage, our first floor flooring started pulling, separating and peeling, months into living there. Our yard flooded. We had to hire a painter to repaint, and the painter said it was likely only one coat as it was like painting drywall. Damaged wood, items from our walk through never taken care of, a sliding door that flooded into our subfloor just to name a few. Not only were issues not addressed, we received condescending answers that didn't address problems. Attached are pictures of issues that are still remaining in our house to this day as well as issues we had to fight tooth and nail to even get a response. We hired an attorney, an expensive solution to get any answers at all. We have spoken to the owner, and every level at Schottenstein, which tells you that they do not care. They brag about a homeowner portal for warranty work, but don't follow through on the repairs. Before writing this review I reached out one final time, and they still did not respond. RUN from this company.
Reply from Schottenstein Homes
2024.10.01
The last contact we had with this homeowner was a year ago. At that time, we addressed all warrantable items.
*The flooring condition illustrated was NOT present during our last inspection in the fall of 23. This is the first we are hearing of it.
*Drywall patches: The homeowner informed us she preferred to paint herself, SH provided the matching wall paint. This is the first we are hearing of this since fall of 23.
*Electrical switch: Fall of 23 we asked Homeowner to schedule directly with our electric contractor to have this resolved. This is the first we are hearing of this issue not being resolved.
Shoe mold: SH repaired the sliding glass door and trim in the fall of 23. This is the first time we are hearing of a remaining concern.
Since receiving this review and prior to this response, we immediately sent our Homeowner Care team to this home to address all these concerns.
We cannot help with issues that we are not aware of, from more than 1 year ago, but happy that we are now aware so we can take care of all remaining warrantable items.
Thank you,
Schottenstein Homes
Homeowner Care Team
*The flooring condition illustrated was NOT present during our last inspection in the fall of 23. This is the first we are hearing of it.
*Drywall patches: The homeowner informed us she preferred to paint herself, SH provided the matching wall paint. This is the first we are hearing of this since fall of 23.
*Electrical switch: Fall of 23 we asked Homeowner to schedule directly with our electric contractor to have this resolved. This is the first we are hearing of this issue not being resolved.
Shoe mold: SH repaired the sliding glass door and trim in the fall of 23. This is the first time we are hearing of a remaining concern.
Since receiving this review and prior to this response, we immediately sent our Homeowner Care team to this home to address all these concerns.
We cannot help with issues that we are not aware of, from more than 1 year ago, but happy that we are now aware so we can take care of all remaining warrantable items.
Thank you,
Schottenstein Homes
Homeowner Care Team
Crack and leaking in our foundation of our 2 month old home. We filled out the information in the homeowners portal over a week ago and they still haven't responded. They said they would respond in 48 hours. When I called today, I couldn't leave a message and the recording told me to fill out a request in the portal. This is unacceptable!I finally called Wellington's office and they connected me with a company that can fix it in 5 weeks. In the meantime I get puddles in my basement.
Reply from Schottenstein Homes
2022.08.05
Hello, there is not a request from you in the portal. Please submit asap and we will be in touch asap. No worries, your concern will be resolved.
New home built. Very poor workmanship. Roads in development are a mess and builder takes no responsibility for their condition. Would not recommend. This is what they consider a well build road in our neighborhood. It has only been in for three years!
I have yet to see a new development with roads that look this bad. We have yet to find one person In our Schottenstein development who is happy with the way our development looks. It is sad that the company does not take more pride in their final product. Shoddy workmanship and materials.
Reply from Schottenstein Homes
2021.06.23
Dear Kathy,
If you are comparing your home and community to others at a similar price point in our market, both statements are not accurate. We receive hundreds of compliments from happy homeowners regarding the quality of their home throughout every year who are grateful they chose our company to build their home. The streets/curbs only look new for a short period of time after final paving is complete. Even then they are never perfect in any community, anywhere. It’s not the nature of materials used to construct curbs and roadways.
If you are comparing your home and community to others at a similar price point in our market, both statements are not accurate. We receive hundreds of compliments from happy homeowners regarding the quality of their home throughout every year who are grateful they chose our company to build their home. The streets/curbs only look new for a short period of time after final paving is complete. Even then they are never perfect in any community, anywhere. It’s not the nature of materials used to construct curbs and roadways.
I am currently building with the company but their excuses for delaying the project is unfortunate. Over 4month of signing a contract, digging is yet to start. They seems to be professionals but there is too much room for improvement. At this point I have decided to look for a house to buy as I can't wait forever to closed schottenstein home.
Update 7/14/21. My initial post I gave schottenstein homes 2 stars. I am upgrading it to 3stars today dues to the speed of construction from May 14th when digging was done till today. I drive 30mins twice a week to see the progress. I must say I am satisfied and hope that the consistency will continue with compromising quality.
Reply from Schottenstein Homes
2021.06.23
Dear Ben K,
I believe our owner has been in touch with you and it’s my understanding you have chosen to stay the course with our mutual agreement. We have sent multiple letters to you with updates regarding the national labor and material shortages in our industry. Additionally our on-site construction supervision teams are available to answer any questions as best they can under the circumstances.
The amount of time it is taking to construct a home is not currently unordinary for any builder. The material supply shut down created by the worldwide pandemic, almost immediately followed by record home sales has put a strain on the national system that seems to only be more challenging for builders every day. Labor and material shortages are still very significant. We have also not been willing to construct our homes using inferior materials that are sometimes more readily available over these last few months.
At the end of the day, we are still delivering on our original promise to provide a quality home at a great price. The labor and material cost increases are astronomical, of which we are incurring to your benefit, in order to honor our agreement with you.
I believe our owner has been in touch with you and it’s my understanding you have chosen to stay the course with our mutual agreement. We have sent multiple letters to you with updates regarding the national labor and material shortages in our industry. Additionally our on-site construction supervision teams are available to answer any questions as best they can under the circumstances.
The amount of time it is taking to construct a home is not currently unordinary for any builder. The material supply shut down created by the worldwide pandemic, almost immediately followed by record home sales has put a strain on the national system that seems to only be more challenging for builders every day. Labor and material shortages are still very significant. We have also not been willing to construct our homes using inferior materials that are sometimes more readily available over these last few months.
At the end of the day, we are still delivering on our original promise to provide a quality home at a great price. The labor and material cost increases are astronomical, of which we are incurring to your benefit, in order to honor our agreement with you.
This is worst builder I have ever experienced. They oversold houses without any plan of closing times. They don’t have any tentative time or no near time plan to finish homes. Not even started digging even after 6 months of contract sign. No reply to emails. If u sign y’ll stuck with them forever. Having no own home is better than buying from them.
Reply from Schottenstein Homes
2021.06.23
Hello Raji S,
Please call my office at 614–478-1100 to allow me to confirm that SH is your builder and what lot/community it is. There are a couple other builders with similar names and sometimes folks get them mixed up.
In the event we are your builder (I am unable to locate a “Raji S”), I will tell you that the amount of time it is taking to dig basements is not unordinary for any builder at this time, most unfortunately. The material supply shut down created by the worldwide pandemic, almost immediately followed by record home sales put a strain on the national system that seems to only be more challenging for builders every day. Labor and material shortages are still very significant. We have been sending out letters regularly to our homeowners to update them regarding the national labor and material shortages in addition to the availability of our on-site construction supervision teams to answer any questions as best they can.
Our company management resources are more than enough to have kept up with our sales pace if only the materials and contractor labor were readily available. We have also not been willing to construct our homes using inferior materials that are sometimes more readily available over these last few months.
At the end of the day we are still delivering on our original promise to provide a quality home at a great price. The labor and material cost increases are astronomical, of which we are incurring in order to honor our agreements with our homeowners.
- David
Please call my office at 614–478-1100 to allow me to confirm that SH is your builder and what lot/community it is. There are a couple other builders with similar names and sometimes folks get them mixed up.
In the event we are your builder (I am unable to locate a “Raji S”), I will tell you that the amount of time it is taking to dig basements is not unordinary for any builder at this time, most unfortunately. The material supply shut down created by the worldwide pandemic, almost immediately followed by record home sales put a strain on the national system that seems to only be more challenging for builders every day. Labor and material shortages are still very significant. We have been sending out letters regularly to our homeowners to update them regarding the national labor and material shortages in addition to the availability of our on-site construction supervision teams to answer any questions as best they can.
Our company management resources are more than enough to have kept up with our sales pace if only the materials and contractor labor were readily available. We have also not been willing to construct our homes using inferior materials that are sometimes more readily available over these last few months.
At the end of the day we are still delivering on our original promise to provide a quality home at a great price. The labor and material cost increases are astronomical, of which we are incurring in order to honor our agreements with our homeowners.
- David
We just bought a brand new house and I have to say after this we will never buy new ever again. The issues we have had after moving in are not little things that anyone would just gloss over. Our first major issue was not having any heat on the entire north side of our house (in early February). Then we found out 3 out of 4 sinks were all loose and not caulked in place. We have a list of 30 items needing fixed still today. When I brought these issues up to Schottenstein their response was to defend themselves. Not once did they offer an apology or to make any of this right. My opinion is do not buy from this company. They use the cheapest contractors and home items to build houses possible then mark them up. This purchase has been the biggest regret of my life.
8/20/2020 update - I emailed HC twice to follow up on this and they never replied. Although it did take 3 months to get a reply to this post so I'm not surprised. 8/30/2020 - CEO of Schottenstein finally emailed me to tell me the house is great and all their houses are great. He said our heating issue was a small area, um no, 50% of 2600 square feet is a large area. Meanwhile, I can't get our stairs fixed that are cracking. Lot 16 Ballantrae, Firestone.
Reply from Schottenstein Homes
2020.08.28
Hi Kuya,
We’re very sorry to hear that you had a bad experience. Could you please send us a private message with your details (community, lot number and contact info) and complaint? We don't have a record of you purchasing a home from us, so this will help us track down your information. We will forward this onto our Homeowner Care department to have someone follow up with you directly.
In response to the update on 8/20/2020: Homeowner care has been in contact with you through email after you reached out to them directly following our initial reply last week and our co-owner, Steven Schottenstein has also reached out to you through Homeowner Care within the last week to directly address your concerns.
Here is a copy of the letter from Steven Schottenstein, co-owner:
Thank you so much for your constructive criticism, regarding your home, which I take very seriously. I am quite proud of your home and as you know I have been to visit your home twice since closing. Once on a weekend, which is unheard of in the business, and the issue took 30 seconds to address and correct. Regarding your heating and cooling at time of closing, we are one of the few companies in the business that have an independent energy company to review your entire heating and cooling system to ensure it is working properly. Clearly, once you moved in something must have happened to cause a small area in your house to not heat properly after closing. What I am most proud of is the response time that was taken by the heating and cooling company to resolve the issue. You are 100% correct that there are differences between new and existing homes. I urge you in the future to always be very open about the benefits a new home provides you. For example choice of design colors, interior features, energy efficiency and long term warranty, just to name a few. If there are any concerns what so ever, we have a very good Home Owner care Department and as you know we have a portal that makes it much easier to communicate with us. Feel free to talk to us at anytime in regards to your home in which we are very proud of.
Sincerely,
Steven Schottenstein
Co-owner
We’re very sorry to hear that you had a bad experience. Could you please send us a private message with your details (community, lot number and contact info) and complaint? We don't have a record of you purchasing a home from us, so this will help us track down your information. We will forward this onto our Homeowner Care department to have someone follow up with you directly.
In response to the update on 8/20/2020: Homeowner care has been in contact with you through email after you reached out to them directly following our initial reply last week and our co-owner, Steven Schottenstein has also reached out to you through Homeowner Care within the last week to directly address your concerns.
Here is a copy of the letter from Steven Schottenstein, co-owner:
Thank you so much for your constructive criticism, regarding your home, which I take very seriously. I am quite proud of your home and as you know I have been to visit your home twice since closing. Once on a weekend, which is unheard of in the business, and the issue took 30 seconds to address and correct. Regarding your heating and cooling at time of closing, we are one of the few companies in the business that have an independent energy company to review your entire heating and cooling system to ensure it is working properly. Clearly, once you moved in something must have happened to cause a small area in your house to not heat properly after closing. What I am most proud of is the response time that was taken by the heating and cooling company to resolve the issue. You are 100% correct that there are differences between new and existing homes. I urge you in the future to always be very open about the benefits a new home provides you. For example choice of design colors, interior features, energy efficiency and long term warranty, just to name a few. If there are any concerns what so ever, we have a very good Home Owner care Department and as you know we have a portal that makes it much easier to communicate with us. Feel free to talk to us at anytime in regards to your home in which we are very proud of.
Sincerely,
Steven Schottenstein
Co-owner
